FUTA researchers unveil N500,000 cost effective ventilator

A team of researchers at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) has developed a positive pressure ventilator.

The Dean, School of Engineering and Engineering Technology (SEET), Prof. Aremu Akintunde, while presenting the prototype to the university management, said the present design falls within the non-invasive mechanical ventilator category.

Akintunde said non-invasive mechanical ventilators could be used at health facilities and at home because of its versatility, adding that the design is of the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) type, which delivers constant and steady pressure.

The Dean said that the mechanical part was achieved through a control system while the electronic part was achieved through a sensor system using positive feedback loop.

The team lead of the research group, Dr. Peter Ayodeji, stated that the principle of the machine was taken from the bellows used by the local blacksmiths.

Ayodeji said that the machine was functional in enabling affected patients take in enough oxygen into their lungs, adding that the machine was assembled using locally available materials except for the motor and the sensor materials.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Fuwape, in his remark, commended the various schools in the university for bringing new ideas into every aspect of curbing the pandemic.

He said that the innovation coming after the development of a hand sanitiser dispensing system, the ventilator had taken FUTA’s contributions to the fight against the pandemic a notch higher.